I suspect that readers of this Substack also write haiku, or at least have a more than passing interest. I would love to see and discuss haiku, what is challenging about the form, where we find and how we compose them. Are a you a plodder (x number of haiku a day, without fail) or more sporadic (kicking out several haiku in bursts)?
I suspect we’d need another forum (Zoom?) for such discussions. Let me know privately if you are interested.
NOTE: I’m back in Brazil for a quick visit (more on that later), so even though I will writing and posting the haiku on Instagram and haikuandy.com as per usual but the actual mailing will be delayed.
haiku 20230925 » Oceanside, CA USA
pulling nails
from scrap wood
screech screech clank
haiku 20230926 » Santa Barbara, CA USA
falling leaves
each one at last
meeting its shadow
haiku 20230927 » Los Angeles, CA USA
picking wild apples
one side perfect
the other pecked clean
haiku 20230928 » McKinleyville, CA USA
the night before
another long trip --
the moon almost full
haiku 20230929 » Nashville, TN USA
waiting for my flight
not-bad coffee in the
atrium sunlight
haiku 20230930 » Dracut, MA USA
back in brazil!
the uber driver knows
the tolltaker by name
haiku 20231001 » Santa Rosa, CA USA
mist over the hills
I keep forgetting
to speak portuguese
That’s all seven! See you next week! And remember…
I STILL want to send you a card
It’s kinda weird you read my Substack but haven’t requested a card yet. I don’t get it. Please ask! It’s free. I ask nothing in return, aside from your good graces or maybe a cup of coffee if you’re so inclined.
Follow me on Instagram
If that’s your thing… https://www.instagram.com/haikuandy/
Starting a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been creating “reels” of the seven haiku. Check it out!
Buy haiku books
I heartily recommend all the books below. I get no commission, no nothing if you buy through my links. (Amazon Associates gave me the boot because I didn’t move enough merchandise. Oh well.)
Haiku: An Anthology of Japanese Poems, Stephen Addiss/Fumiko Y. Yamamoto/Akira Y. Yamamoto
With the exception of The Haiku Anthology (see below), this was the first haiku anthology I bought when I first started sending out haiku cards. I stumbled across this beautiful, small book, while making my requisite writer’s pilgrimage to Shakespeare’s Books in Paris (ooh la la). The richness and scope between the covers in this little book is simply amazing, featuring over 102 poets, many more if you include anonymous authors. It is almost my go-to when packing for a trip. Buy it here.
The Haiku Anthology (Third Edition), Edited by Cor van den Heuvel
Want to know what modern English-language haiku really looks like? What it is capable of? Here is your answer, and a must for every haiku poet’s bookshelf. When I first started writing haiku, this volume served me very well. Many of the haiku within have remained with me throughout the years, and I have been privileged to now count some of the contributors as colleagues and friends. Buy it here.
Three Simple Lines: A Writer’s Pilgrimage into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku, Natalie Goldberg
Many writers will immediately recognize Goldberg from her forever bestselling Writing Down the Bones. As it happens, she has been writing haiku for her entire adult life, and has much to teach us. In Three Simple Lines, she intertwines memoir, history, and travelogue in a magnificent way as she journeys through Japan, chasing down the ghosts of Bashō and Buson, among others. She also draws much needed attention to women haiku poets, who were too often overshadowed by their male contemporaries. Buy it here.
Mountain Tasting - Haiku and Journals of Santoka … (tr. John Stevens)
I found Santoka challenging at first. Much of his haiku feels incomplete to me or dashed off. But he grew on me. Soon I felt like a companion on his journey, bouncing from inn to inn, begging for alms by day, pounding sake by night. Buy it here.
The Essential Haiku - Versions of Bashō, Buson, & Issa
Essential is right! Edited by Robert Hass, a great poet in his own right. Hass includes great essays on the history and evolution, as well as other writings by the poets themselves. A true master class in haiku! Buy it here.
Narrow Road to the Interior and Other Writings, Matsuo Bashō (tr. Sam Hamill)
Haiku poets have a tradition of wandering the countryside, and Bashō set the example! Buy it here.
Selected Poems, Masaoka Shiki (tr. Burton Watson)
I wrote a whole post about Shiki. Haiku might not exist today without his influence and renewal of the form. Buy it here.
Issa's Best: A Translator's Selection of Master Haiku, Issa Kobayashi (tr. David G. Lanoue)
Issa is probably the most beloved of the classic poets. His humility and joy in the face of unbearable loss and poverty endear him to haiku lovers everywhere. Lanoue seems to have made translating Issa his life’s work, and I love his versions. Buy it here.
Hi, Andy. I would be curious to try a haiku discussion group, if you get that going. Thanks.